Withdrawn from Her
by mistlove
Summary: The many times Dante withdrew from women for reasons he didn't understand. And the one time he opened up. And how that one time gave him the treasure of a woman named Lady. T for themes.


NO PERVERTED COMMENTS AND OR REQUESTS IN REVIEWS. RUDE REVIEWS WILL RESULT IN THE STORY BEING TAKEN DOWN.  
**Title:** Withdrawn from Her  
**Summary: **The many times Dante withdrew from women for reasons he didn't understand. And the one time he opened up. And how that one time gave him the treasure of a woman named Lady.  
**Author:** mistlove  
**Copyrights:** Plot is mine. Everything else belongs to CAPCOM.  
**Notes:  
**This abnormally long DMC one-shot was written to the one word prompt of "introverted". Thank you for your support. Please read and review. Enjoy!

Most would not call him introverted. Actually, they'd say he was outgoing. He was friendly and playful... but they didn't know how much he kept to himself. No one actually knew much about him. No one would ever know much about him, he'd decided. He would keep this... this twistedness away from them. Away from those fragile humans. Humans were weak, Dante had always thought that. Humans were strong, he'd thought that a number of times too.

But most of all, humans were foolish.

They were irrational, stubborn creatures that were intelligent and idiotic at the same time. Somewhere inside of him, he yearned to be fully human. He was already irrational and stubborn. But he wanted that foolishness, that weakness too.

Vergil had always looked down on him for that.

But he knew what he wanted. He wanted it bad. He wanted to be weak. He wanted to be able to cling to the people he held dear for dependence, so that he wouldn't feel lonely. He wanted that ability to let go of selfish desires for a flickering moment to save that one person he treasured. He wanted to be able to forget everything and just act impulsively, rashly to save a life.

But he couldn't do it.

That was why he couldn't save Vergil.  
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

She was pretty. Oh, he would not deny that. She was soooooo _pretty_. Oh god, he would stare at her all night if he wouldn't look like a gaping, drooling pervert. But then again. He _was_ a pervert. And everyone who knew him only further confirmed that….

"Hey, babe. Can't believe you're all by your lonesome over here," he said casually with a charming smile. He leaned on the counter, tilting his head at her.

She turned to him, surprised, before offering a quaint smile back. "Well, I'm not alone anymore. Although I'm not complaining…."

They had chatted for quite awhile into the night. He knew that look she was giving him. She kept looking over him, her eyes lingering in… _certain_ places longer than need be. He felt himself flush a little at her flattering scrutiny. Saying she seemed interested was a bit of an understatement….

And then she popped _the_ question on him with a shy smile.

Had he mentioned she was extremely pretty? With a nice body to boot. And she was staring at him like he was eyecandy. Well, he _knew_ he was eyecandy. But anyway, the point was that she was _interested_. Thanks to his rotten luck with women, he'd normally have to kill to get someone like her to even look at him. Everything was going his way and yet….

"Sorry," was all he said as he smiled somewhat apologetically.

Her sweet smile changed to a deep frown. She huffed and left the table without even glancing back. He felt his eyes roll.

"Scorned woman…," he murmured under his breath, swishing his vodka lazily in his glass.

"Perhaps I'm just being nosy and an eavesdropper. And you may just ignore an old man's ramblings… but you really had her there," the bartender, a handsome middle-aged man spoke from behind him as he wiped down the counter. He was lean, sleek and especially tall with silver-grey streaks in his otherwise jet-black hair.

"Yeah?" Dante turned to look at him, amused. "I could tell. She was eyeing me down south."

The bartender let out a low, good-humored laugh. "Well, you're a handsome young man. I'm not surprised. And she was a beautiful young lady. You have good taste."

The hybrid snorted.

It was quiet for a moment between them.

"That question must've taken a lot of courage on her part, young man," the man continued slowly, straightening his vest. "Why'd you shoot her down?"

Dante stared blankly at his clear vodka. "… I dunno. I don't like people getting too close." He turned his aqua blue gaze up to meet the man's.

The bartender gazed back at him passively before breaking eye contact. "When are you retiring?"

"Mmn. Now that you mention it, I'm pretty tired," Dante mumbled, reaching up to cover his yawn. "I'll be heading home then. Thanks for the booze." He reached into the back pocket of sloping pants.

"On the house, young man," the bartender said, patting the counter with a smile. "Get some rest and come back and sweet talk up another lady."

"… You got it." Dante felt a broad grin spread across his lips, fangs sliding against the inside of his cheek. "By the way, name's Dante. I'll be back, old man. See you around."

So he had come back and had chatted up other beautiful women at the bar. And every time the conversation took a turn into a more committed relationship of any sort, he would turn away from her.

THWAK.

"You damn player," the woman snapped as she stomped off.

Dante grinned to himself, flicking his tongue out to catch a trickle of blood running down his chin. He cringed, realizing he had accidently bitten into his lip when she had slapped him. Ouch. He sighed tiredly, placing his head into his arms, face down over the counter.

"You're a real heartbreaker… Dante," the bartender said with a low chuckle.

"Sha' up," he growled, though it came out slurred.

"Quite a brutal heartbreaker too. Have _you_ got your heart broken before?"

"… I've gotten shot in the heart before," Dante muttered with a subtle wince, recalling the one time he'd grabbed Lady's hip to pull her out of the way of an attack and had gotten a bullet in thanks.

But the bartender took it a different way. "Woman got your heart?"

"She's gotten me several times," the hybrid confirmed, thinking even further back to the many, many times Lady had punished him with a gun.

"That must be your problem then. That's why you're not happy with the women you're chatting up here." The bartender let out a long sigh. "I suppose you haven't gotten over your woman yet."

Dante blinked into the darkness of the table, still face down over the counter. Whoa. They just totally misunderstood each other. But he decided to play along. What was he gonna say, 'No, you got it wrong, I meant I literally got shot in the heart several times by a vixen I'm forced to call a partner'? No. Of course not.

He sat up, shrugging. "She's a mean little lady." Pun very much intended, he thought to himself with mental snicker.

"A mean woman makes for a strong man, you know."

"She's not taken yet though," Dante said casually, deciding to continue on the conversation path that Lady was his special 'lady.'

"Oh?"

"Ayeah. But I'm just a loser who's too embarrassed to ask for her attention any other way than groping her."

He blinked. Wait. _Wait just a minute_. Did he really just say that aloud? Those

were not smartass, made-up lies that he just told. That totally came out without him thinking it first.

The bartender burst into laughter, clearly trying to hold it back to not disturb the other customers. He cupped a hand over his smile.

"Ah. Well. Dante, you know women don't like that."

Dante blushed, collapsing back onto the counter. "… Yeah, I know," he mumbled pathetically, trying hard to ignore his burning cheeks.

"Try to… _restrain_ yourself," the bartender paused, clearly stifling a laugh by the sound of his tone."and ask her seriously how she feels about you."

"Uh. I'll try."

Now if he were to figuratively confess to Lady because he liked her (he didn't and Trish could tease him all she wanted to, but no, he really didn't like the vixen and she-beast that was Lady at _all_) chances were, he'd never get through his whole cheesy speech of his love for Lady without her beating the fucking daylights out of him first. But he decided to keep that a mental thought.

He got up and ruffled his hair absently, reaching into his coat pocket with his free hand to pull out a ten (it was a miracle he even had money on him considering how broke he was) and slap it on the table in front of the bartender. "Hey, old man, I'm leaving for the night."

"Think about what I said," the man reminded him as he took the money. "I'm sure you'll be happy with her."

"… Yeah."  
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

He'd given up wandering the bars to instead lounging in his office to sleep and read bike magazines and gorge on pizza. It had been a good three months since he had been to that particular bar or seen the old man bartender or even seriously flirted with a woman. Maybe it was that strange guilt about what had happened to Vergil and that decision in the very back of his mind to stay away from humans that kept him from getting into a committed relationship with any women. Well. Either way, de decided he was going to straighten up and make for a serious business. Because he couldn't stand being broke for so long with Lady harping on him every waking minute for him to pay her back what he owed her. Which was _a lot_ of money.

"Dante, are you _listening _to me?"

Cue the harping session.

"Yes," he said, holding back an eyeroll.

He'd learned that with Lady, it was easier to lie that you were listening than to make a snide comeback. Because then she'd respond by shooting him. And god, he hated that.

Lady folded her arms, looking at him skeptically. "Dante, what did I just say?"

Oh shit.

"Um. Something. About… a… demon?"

Her eyebrows creased together in an annoyed frown. "Yeah? What kind of demon?"

"Er. The usual?"

"You haven't been listening at all!"

He cringed at her shrill tone, shaking his head. He still had a nasty hangover from drinking too much last night. Geez. She didn't have to scream.

"Sorry, babe," he murmured.

"Don't call me that," she snapped. "Now listen to me before I slam a loudspeaker into your ear and shout into it."

"Yessum, slave driver."

"Dante," she hissed, growing increasingly frustrated.

He nodded this time, serious. She looked like she was gonna bite his face off in a minute if he didn't straighten up. "Yeah… Lady, I'm listening."

"Okay then." Lady ran a hand through her hair, looking satisfied. "There's been a rumor of a nasty demon running around town lately. There have been a lot of male-centered disappearances."

"Yeah?" He raised a curious eyebrow at that. "How many are we talking?"

"Nearing fourteen now."

"Damn. And you just picked up on this?"

"Yes. The locals have been too scared to talk about it until now."

"Huh. Okay, I'll look into it. What about you?"

"I think I'll be hitting the bars." Lady stood up, dusting herself off. "That's a good place to start if a demon wanted to attract attention."

Wow. He totally didn't expect to hear Lady ever going anywhere near a bar. This was getting interesting.

"Can I tag along?" he asked innocently, flashing a puppy-eyed look.

She opened her mouth to obviously say no but when she looked at him, she hesitated, wavering.

"… Okay," she said finally.  
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

He would be flat-out lying if he said he wasn't surprised.

He and Lady had gone to the bar together, but had split up to investigate different sides of the room. So he was sitting at the counter, scanning the room for anything that seemed out of place. He spotted Lady on the other side of the room, weaving her way between people as she eyed anybody suspicious looking.

So he had snorted to himself at her overly cautious behavior and was mostly minding his own business when, out of nowhere, a pretty lady came up and sat right next to him, going straight into conversation with him.

Holy shit.

A woman, a _nice-looking _one at that, initiated a conversation with him first. Dude. The world was gonna fucking end. Or his luck had turned around. _Or…_

"Fashionista?" she asked with an amused smile at his clothes.

"'Naw, I just like red," he grinned back.

He was going to have fun while he did his job, dammit, and Lady wouldn't be able to say anything about it. Because then he could claim he was just trying to grill her for anything on the local rumors. Yes, _Lady_, who was currently acting as his makeshift _mom_ and _slave driver_ and was sometimes one of the _scariest_ people on earth with her temper, would have nothing on him.

"Red is cute… I guess." She flashed him a flirtious smirk, revealing pearl white teeth that were a little on the sharp side.

Dante smiled but said nothing.

She leaned against her forearm, smiling as she eyed him carefully. She shook her hair out absently with a cute giggle.

He smiled appreciatively at the sweet scent she was emitting. Damn. Why couldn't Lady smell like this? Not that Lady didn't smell nice. She kinda had a fresh sea breeze thing going for her. But this woman here was slapping pheromones into his face. Oh yeah. But he was not complaining. Oh no, he definitely wasn't.

"But do tell me handsome... where do you get those looks?" the woman asked, batting mascara-thick but beautiful eyelashes at him.

He smirked, reaching up to brush her blonde bangs behind her ear. "You like what you see?" he asked, standing up slowly.

She only smiled flirtily back at him, also standing up so she could caress his face with her long fingers.

"Heh… babe, you haven't seen everything I've got to show yet...," he whispered with a smirk.

"Ohhh!" she giggled mischievously. "Jumping the gun there, lover-boy," she teased, pushing him back. She shifted from his face to his forehead and fingered his hair gently. "Why is your hair white? I wanna know. Premature aging?" she asked as she kissed his locks. "Or did you just want some attention, sexy?"

"You're such a tease," he whined to her. "My hair is naturally white. What do you want me to say, that I'm Santa's kid?"

"You're too thin to be Santa's brat," she giggled, running a hand along his toned chest.

"Okay, I've been a good boy. I told you about my hair. Now give me a reward," he demanded softly. "You're being mean."

"Demanding." She flashed him a wide grin, tugging hard down on his hair. "I _like_ it…," she murmured she sidled up on her tiptoes...

"Move it, Dante!" a woman's familiar voice yelled.

KA-BLAM.

The woman dropped like lead the moment the bullet hit her forehead, whipping her blonde hair into his face as she fell. Dante only stood blinking as he felt the thick red liquid splatter onto his face.

"Dante- you idiot!" Lady shouted as she picked her a way across the panicking crowd of people.

Dante only sighed tiredly. The felled demon rose again with a rumbling snarl. Wild with anger, it took the succubus a moment to become aware of Ebony's cold metal pressed against her cheek.

"Sayonara, baby. You were such a cute human..."

KA-SPLAK.

The demon fell again, this time motionless.

"You dumbshit womanizer," Lady snapped as she finally got closer to the white haired. "That could've been bad."

Dante managed a half-hearted smirk at her. "Yeah, Lady, what do you think my demon senses are for?" he asked flippantly. "She had teeth that were sharper that a fucking shark's. And she smelled all sweet." He scratched his head tiredly. "But I knew something was up the moment a woman approached me first anyway..."

Lady raised a delicate eyebrow at that before reaching up to brush her fingers across the blood-splatter on his face. "Are you feeling alright?" she asked softly, sounding truly concerned.

"No. Lady, I'm suffering from the blues cause you cost me a chance of getting laid by a really hot chick." But the retort came out flat and tired instead of sarcastic like he had intended it to.

"Dante."

"_Lady_."

She shook her head before reaching up to smack his cheek lightly, slightly playful. "Come on. Let's get out of here." It was said as she turned on her heel, heading for the exit of the disheveled bar.

He brought a hand up to his cheek, rubbing it gently before following after her.  
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

He awoke with a start, shooting straight up from where he lied on the couch. He was shirtless where he laid with his coat acting as a temporary blanket. Eyes wide, he looked around quickly, feeling his muscles suddenly tense. But all he saw was the familiar interior of his office. Little rays of sunlight were streaming in through his clouded windows, marking the very beginning of dawn.

His eyes flickered over to the kitchen, where Lady stood by the stove.

She seemed to notice his gaze and turned to him with a slightly flushed expression. "Are you feeling better, Dante?" she asked softly.

"… Lady, what are you doing?"

She turned her gaze back to the counter. "Um. Well, I was…"

It was barely morning and Lady was standing in his kitchen. Looking embarrassed. As she asked him if he was okay. Radiating a wife-like aura. At least he thought so. Holy-

"Lady." He threw his legs over the sofa, wide-eyed. "Did we _do _it last n-"

A metal pan colliding with his face made the last part of his question unintelligible. As if Lady couldn't already guess what he was going to say.

"You. Dante. _You_. Why is your mind _always _in the gutter?" she asked in a soft, but dangerous tone. "_No. _All I did last night was haul you back from the bar after you _collapsed_."

Dante rubbed the new bump on his forehead. Ouch. Hopefully that was going to go away soon. He blinked when he heard what she said.

"What? I collapsed?" he asked stupidly.

"Isn't that what I just said?" Lady snapped. Her expression softened as she deserted the kitchen for the couch where he now sat. "You haven't been yourself lately, Dante. Are you feeling better now?"

He felt himself slowly smile from her concerned question. He pushed his coat aside and got up. "Yea… I'm feelin' more like myself, Lady," he murmured in a slur. "Maybe I've been stressed or something."

"From finding ways to get yourself _further _in debt?" Lady asked with a snort, now only a few feet from him. "So you have an excuse to _not _pay me back?"

"… Lady, I don't like you."

Okay. That was a big, fat lie and Dante knew it. As much as Lady acted like his mom with the 'would you take a shower already, you smell like an animal!' to a tyrant with the 'Dante, do this job right or I'm not going to give you a penny of the reward!' to a debt collector with the 'you owe me a lot of money now and I'm going to collect it by tomorrow no matter what!', Lady had become someone essential in his life. He gave her attitude and lip all the time about her constantly grating on his nerves, but she mattered to him. A lot. But of course, he still didn't have the guts to seriously ask to have a committed relationship with her. Well, she didn't even know he felt that way because he never told her. He wondered why. He wasn't usually shy about that kind of thing but Lady was… different.

He spotted a hint of hurt in her eyes as she spun away from him. "Y-You don't have to like me to pay me back. Stupid devil," she muttered.

"… Okay, I lied," Dante mumbled with a blush. He couldn't stand to see Lady looking like that. And now was his chance to seriously tell her how he felt. "I don't not like you, Lady."

She blinked, staring at him confusedly. "What?"

"I mean… yeah, Lady, I like you," he said pathetically.

God, he couldn't be more pitiful if he tried. He was always teasing Lady, saying things how much he liked her and how cute she was, but it was in a joking manner so it held no weight. So now when he _really _meant what he said, she took it lightly like she always did. Dammit. It was like the boy who cried wolf. Only Dante cried love and… what was this, a cheesy love story? Okay, no, he was not gonna end up like that little boy in the story. He was going to make his love known, goddammit.

She flushed pink, but there was a smile on her face now. "So… I guess we're still partners."

"Always, Lady," he said with a feigned grin.

There was a resounding smack of palm against face.

Dante blinked, his cheek stinging from the fierce slap.

"Dante," Lady whispered, sounding deeply hurt. "Please… _please _don't smile at me like that. I hate it when you smile… when you're not happy."

He turned his blue eyes to meet her heterochromic ones. She reached up to gently cup the very cheek she had just slapped.

"Devil may cry… right?" she asked with a small curve of her lips, running her thumb over his flushed cheek.

He shook his head, smiling softly but genuinely. "I don't like letting you see my weak side, Lady."

"Why?" she protested.

"Because." He reached up and took her face firmly into his hands. He pinched her cheek playfully with a boyish grin. "Then you'll think I'm not cool. And…" He took a deep breath. "I don't want you to think that cause … I love you."

Her eyes grew wide. "… Stop that, Dante." She blushed, pushing his hands away. "I told you I don't like it when you say things you don't mean-"

His lips crashed against hers, capturing her by surprise. He released quickly however, his expression one of intent.

"I always mean it when I say I love you, Lady." Dante brushed a thumb over her lips, breathless and surprised by his own act of affection. "If that little kiss wasn't enough to let you know I wasn't joking."

Lady looked down at her feet, unable to meet his gaze. "… But I'm human," she mumbled, slipping out of his grasp.

Dante blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I'm human," she said a little louder, looking up to him with troubled eyes. "Wouldn't you be happier with… I don't know… a half-devil like yourself…?"

"Oh, gee, _thanks_, Lady." He smacked her lightly on the cheek with a pout. "So you're saying you don't want to be with me because I'm not human? I thought you said those things didn't matter, as long as I'm not off axing people."

"No! I don't mean that!" Lady frantically blurted out, shaking her head. "Dante, that's not what I meant. I'm sorry."

He'd never seen Lady so panicked before. He decided to play along and act upset to see how she really felt. He folded his arms, stepping away from her.

"Then what is it? I thought you didn't judge people by their blood."

"I'm sorry," Lady mumbled, sounding ashamed of herself. "I meant… it's just… I'm too common for you… right?"

Dante blinked. Was she serious? Was that what she thought?

He turned to her with a frown. "Lady, are you seriously asking me if you're too '_common' _for me? I know _I'm_ badass, Lady, but have you seen yourself in action?"

She blinked. "What?"

"God, Lady, I love you for who you are. Not for how much demon ass you can kick or if you're demon or human." He pinched her nose playfully. "Silly girl."

"... I guess I am being silly. I know you better than that," she said with a small laugh.

He leaned in again and placed his forehead against hers. Her cheeks were deeply flushed now, but she gazed back at his ice-blue eyes intently. He smiled and pressed their lips together again, this time longer. It was a strange, chaste kiss. Dante was just testing how it felt. And it felt good and fulfilling. He pulled back slowly.

"So." He coughed into his hand, straightening up. "I think I know already, but you haven't 'technically' given me your answer yet," Dante said with a devious smirk.

Lady flushed. "What are you talking about, Dante?"

"Can I hear the three magic words for confirmation?" he asked, smiling sweetly

"You're an asshole."

"… Wrong words. And contraptions are _technically_ two words."

"... I love you."

"What was that?"

"I love you!" Lady cried with a blush, her hands fisted in embarrassment by her sides.

"I love you too, babe." Dante grinned as he braced both arms around her waist and picked her up. She squeaked in surprise. He only chuckled as he spun her around. "Yay. I gotta pay that old man a visit and tell him thanks for the advice."

"W-Who?" she asked, giving up struggling and instead relaxing in his grip.

"Oh, just our personal Cupid I guess."

"Y-You're an idiot," she mumbled.

"But I'm a _cute_ idiot. And one you _love_." Dante muffled his face into her stomach, which earned an amusing squeak and a flail from Lady. "Lady, I wanna make a soccer team," he whined into her clothes.

KA-BLAM.

"Yeowch!" Dante dropped Lady when the bullet pierced into his shoulder.

Lady landed carefully on the ground and backed a safe distance away.

"Man." Dante rubbed the bullet wound in his shoulder, which was already beginning to heal. "Remind me to frisk you for weapons before we try to make a mini-me."

"S-Shut up, pervert." Lady turned on her heel back to kitchen, a hint of a blush still on her cheeks. "Come on... I made breakfast for you."

Dante blinked and sniffed, now suddenly aware of the delicious smell of food. He grinned like a child and skipped after her. He was tempted to tell Lady that at this rate, she was gonna be a great housewife. But he wouldn't to save himself the pain. He would someday though.

"Lady, I love you."

"I know, you idiot."  
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**End Notes:**  
If this is your first time reading my DMC work, I want you to know that I've never played DMC before. So. I would appreciate a review on whether or not I kept Dante and Lady in character or if I didn't, how I should fix it. Thank you.

NO PERVERTED COMMENTS AND OR REQUESTS IN REVIEWS. RUDE REVIEWS WILL RESULT IN THE STORY BEING TAKEN DOWN.


End file.
